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In a large stainless steel pot, bring all the ingredients to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 30 min. Strain out the cabbage, and separate from the liquid dye. You can pour the dye into glasses and soak your eggs overnight.

We chose to save the strained cabbage and use it to tie dye some of our eggs. We created a nest of sorts and buried our eggs in the left over leaves. Let them sit over night, and you’re left with white and blue tie eggs!

Good Morning! The last couple weeks we’ve had fun practicing storytelling with Sydney, all thanks to Elmer’s Early Learners Academy. As soon as our fun box filled with supplies arrived, Syd couldn’t wait to open it up and get crafting! Continue reading →

I’ve had a giant bag of beach glass that I’ve collected over the years, and all it’s done is just sit and accumulate dust. I’m so happy that I finally put some of it to good use! The supplies for this project are simple: driftwood/stick, scissors, beach glass, string or wire.

You can use either string or wire to attach your beach glass to one another, and to the driftwood. I opted for string since it won’t rust in the salty air. The next step requires patience and time and tying a series of knots. Tie your first knot at the point where you want to insert a piece of glass. Slip the glass in place, and secure with another knot. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

You can get creative with different shapes, colors, and incorporating shells.
And it’s ready to hang….

These suncatchers are easy to create, and Sydney had lots of fun making them! All we used was wax paper, a marker, white paper, school glue, and a few shades of blue tissue paper. Sketch your cloud and raindrops onto white paper and cut them out. Then cut up your blue tissue paper into small squares.

Now, trace your raindrops onto wax paper and cover with glue. Allow your little ones to go crazy gluing the tissue into each raindrop shape. Then, coat with a thin layer of glue to make sure all tissue is glued down and secure. Allow to dry.

Cut out your blue raindrops, and they’re ready to hang and admire on your windows!

We finally painted our eggs! Instead of messing with natural dye again, or picking up the boxed kind, I opted to find something around the house to reuse instead. I can never seem to use my nail polish fast enough, and it always ends up goopy. So using some of my bright colors from last year worked perfect! I started by blowing out the eggs, and of course making some omelets.

Use whatever technique works best, I went with the ol’ pin and aspirator method. A straw can also be very helpful if you don’t have the aspirator.

Then, once the eggs were washed and dry, a little white spackling paste makes the holes vanish. I also created some little egg stands by cutting up all the sections in the egg carton, flipping them upside down, and adding pins to carefully cradle and hold the eggs in place.

Then I put some q-tips into the polish jars, and let Syd go to town painting. She opted for a drippy paint look.

I went for my go-to black, white and gold palette, using sharpies & metallic nail polish.

These yarn wrapped candles are the perfect way to add a bright & cheery touch of spring to your table!

And they couldn’t be any easier to make. You just need candles (I picked up mine at Target for under two bucks a piece), colorful yarn, and some glue.

Start by glueing one end of your yarn to the candle, then get to wrapping. Make sure you wrap tightly, and add a dot of glue every so often. If you’re using hot glue like I did, be sure to just use a little dot. If the glue builds up it creates bumps under your yarn.

Switch up the colors to make different designs.

Then they’re ready to display! As always use caution when working with hot glue, and make sure you keep the yarn far enough away from the tops of your candles!

I am so excited to share another fun craft project I made for Shutterstock! Head over to their blog to check out the full tutorial. I used Photoshop for this one, but if you don’t have the program you can simply print out your patterns & use stencils to cutout your letters.
(if you’re liking the neon animal mobile, you can find that tutorial here)

Good Morning! I have been so busy working with a few different clients, helping them to refresh and update their homes. But, yesterday I finally found some time to break out my glue gun again! I made this cute little shamrock plant to add a festive touch to our window sill. All I used was green & white felt, wire, scissors, and glue.

Cut out some hearts. Use glue to give them a little dimension. Then, glue the heart shaped clover leaves to your wire. I also made larger clovers by turning my hearts upside-down. Get creative with it.

Then stick them all into a cute little cup or pot with some foam in the bottom. And done! A super quick afternoon craft!

I finally got around to using the great pieces of driftwood we collected during our little Kauai getaway. I made candle holders!

If you already have a drill, then these are super easy to make. You just need your driftwood, and a drill bit that can make 1 1/2″ holes. I picked one up for about $8.

First, I used my tea candles to figure out exactly where I wanted them to sit on the driftwood. Then I drilled away. Make sure to used extreme caution when handling a drill, work on a safe surface, and wear protective eyewear. I also recommend holding your wood in place with some sort of clamp.

Now clean them up with a vacuum, drop in your candles, and…

… light!

Not only do my driftwood candle holders make the perfect addition to our coastal navy bedroom, they’re also a great keepsake from our trip!

Check out how to make these fun Valentine’s I made for Shutterstock! My tutorial is featured on their blog today. With this DIY tutorial you can make personalized homemade cards, and there are no special talents required! It’s a super easy way to create custom Valentines with printed artwork or photographs.

We finally trust that Sydney won’t use her paints, crayons, and markers to decorate the walls, floors, or furniture. So, we moved her workstation into her bedroom. In doing so, it was totally necessary to hang some masterpieces on her wall. I made a few quick frames using cardboard, markers, and twine. It’s super easy. Check it out!

I did this project with Syd, but it can be done by anyone, big or small!
It just takes a few simple supplies:
- paper, pencil & scissors to make a pattern
- felt or other fabric and ribbon
- pins to hold things in place
- fabric glue, and/or hot glue (not for kiddos!)
- various sequins, jewels, etc. for embellishment

Then, just follow the simple steps pictured above.

Here are just a couple that we did on a rainy day. The pink one Sydney made to wear for Valentine’s Day!

Ever since Christmas, I have been working with Sydney to get rid of some old toys, and make room for the new ones. In doing so, I am also trying to make organizing her toys fun. She loves everything little, and has tons of tiny erasers, dolls, etc. So I took some old shoe boxes, paint, & markers, and made fun little homes for her favorite micro toys.

These cute little houses are fun & free to make, will help keep rooms clean, and can even be used to play! Doesn’t get better than that…

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The Sharpie mug DIYs have been done several times, and I always see them and love the idea, but don’t believe they actually hold up. So I put them to the test!

I picked up some inexpensive mugs & bowls, and some Sharpie permanent markers. I grabbed the typical black, a couple metallics, and a pack of silver & gold oil based markers.

I doodled away, popped them all in the oven at 350 for 30 min, let them cool fully, then soaped up a sponge and got to washing. Here are the results….

Typical black marker: Fail

Mix of typical black and metallic: No good

Oil based metallics: ding ding!

We have a winner!

One little tip, if you’re nervous to try this out because you might make a mistake… have no fear! Just put a little rubbing alcohol on a cloth and wipe away your booboos. As long as you fix it before baking, it’s all good! I found this to work for both the regular and oil based sharpies.

** I would never recommend using the markers on any surface that will come in contact with food or your mouth. I was sure to keep my designs away from the lip of my mugs, and I highly suggest you do the same!
** With washing I thoroughly scrubbed my mugs, but was sure to be more on the gentle side when washing over top of my designs.

Sydney and I are still working on a fun DIY today, something that will add a little sparkle to her wardrobe. While we finish that, I want to share these super easy and free personalized gift bags for giving bottles of wine, champagne, etc.

The only supplies you need are the brown bag the bottle came in, string or twine, and a sharpie. Feel free to doodle and get creative, perfect handwriting not required! But if you’d like a little help, you can always print something off and trace it!

Today I’m bringing back an old post from last spring. I originally posted this project on my old site Sunbutter & Jelly, and I wanted to get it back up on my blog to share with you! This is a super easy dollar store DIY. Using some spray paint and an x-acto, I turned these little plastic figures into photo / place card holders. I love the finished product, they add playfulness and humor to our decor!

Pick out the plastic animals of your choice.

Use an utility knife or x-acto to cut a slit in the top of the animal.

Be sure to cut deep enough to hold a card or pic, but don’t cut all the way through.

In a well ventilated and protected area, spray color of your choice.

Let dry, and then they’re ready to use!

You can even use them for place card holders. How cute would these be for a kids birthday party!?